Hurricane Harvey

It’s almost been a week when Hurricane Harvey was about to hit the coast. I feel like I remember as just being hours ago. For myself, being in Mid-Western, Ontario Canada, my heart and mind are just gut wrenched with the images and stories I am reading.

Today, I had the opportunity to visit Yarnspirations Corporate. Of course, this situation is on the top of everyone’s minds. The strong feelings of empathy throughout is felt. It feels to me like a dream.

I don’t live in a region where this type of weather exists. We can have a pop up Tornado at any point during the summer months but nothing as big as a hurricane. We will eventually get the rain from a hurricane but nothing like it would be in the south.

I’m having strong emotions about this particular event. I had the rare opportunity through my work to go to Louisiana during a truck run for delivering house plants. It was 3 weeks out from Hurricane Katrina. I know my partner, at the time, and I were really nervous as we had to drive through Florida in the north across to Louisiana. Both of us tried to refuse the run but went on the understanding that if we felt unsafe that we could abandon the run. There was another storm heading to the coast at the time.

In driving north of New Orleans, the feelings of seeing boats in fields, flipped vehicles, gas station coverings blown over. Roof after roof was covered in blue FEMA tarps. Building partially missing. We had to stop for the night. Only 1 restaurant was open and was super busy. Everything was closed with signage all damage. Windows blown out with plywood up. We had time to kill and wanted to go to the movies. We walked up to the entrance as it looked like it was unharmed. The doors were locked. We walked down the plaza and looked down the side of the building. The movie theatre was missing the back section of the theatre.

It was surreal. It was eye opening… it was life changing to witness. You cannot help but think how many homes you pass where people are still living inside, how many homes were abandoned or destined to be condemned. Lives were changed by 1 serious event. We never got to New Orleans itself on that run, but I am sure I would have just been floored.

At one point in my life, I used to only crochet when I was stressed. Part of the creation of The Crochet Crowd was the need to bring balance to my life. The momentum of crochet for me is self healing and a coping mechanism. I cannot help but think about this event. I am not alone in using crochet as a coping mechanism.

I think what I am taken back about the most with this entire on-going situation is the concept that you would think it would be the wind that ruins lives. The on-going event with the rainfall is something I would have thought much about. Don’t be surprised though, I don’t live in a region where this type of event would happen. It’s just utterly shocking to me that this is even happening.

So I guess my message to those affected by this, ‘pure empathy’ for your situation. I think it’s fair to say that many people have this situation at the top of our minds. I know many people who have offered help either physical or financial. For us humans, it takes a disaster to sometimes reunite humanity in a common effort and compassion for strangers you don’t know.

Recovery from this event will be long term. So our thoughts aren’t temporary. I know some of our community members of The Crochet Crowd have been displaced and are facing this head on. I’m so sorry you are having this added stress. If I had the power to change time and life’s circumstances, I would. You are not alone. It can feel like it at times but I think what is happening is going to be in our memories a long time.

Mikey, The Crochet Crowd

Thanks for visiting my website, TheCrochetCrowd.com. I've been crocheting since I was 14 years old and genuinely excited by yarn and projects to crochet. Serving the globe has it's challenges in reaching audiences of difference languages and cultures but it's remarkable all the same. One of the best elements of crochet is that yarn and project ideas know no borders.
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13 thoughts on “Hurricane Harvey: Hooking In Times of Stress”

I live in a tiny town less than 50 miles from where the eye made landfall. It was forecast to be a direct hit on us until the last few hours before landfall. We evacuated, and sat in a hotel just outside Houston for 5 days, watching the rain fall and the rivers swell. We knew Houston would be affected, but my elderly parents lived in the area and I wanted to be available to help them as well. My adult son and his family were with us, and he has recently started learning to crochet. He was hooking in the lobby and struck up a conversation with another evacuees that knits. Long story short, we three sat in the lobby with our yarn and had great conversation and left as friends. In parting, her husband mentioned that he wished we all had met under better circumstances. I replied, “If it had been better circumstances, we would have passed each other in the lobby and not spoken 3 words to each other.”

I live 90 miles NW of Houston so we had LOTS of rain. I was fortunate to have very little in my home so my heart goes out to all of our coastal areas who were so hard hit… HOWEVER, I have to say that I am SO proud of all the TEXANS and all of the OUT OF STATE heroes we have had to help others out. There is so much evil in the world it is so wonderful to hear the awesome stories I am hearing about TEXANS helping TEXANS, neighbors helping neighbors and Americans helping Americans. I wish that would catch on all over the world.
God Bless Texas and God Bless us all.

Thank you Crochet Crowd and Mikey for y’alls thoughts and prayers. For the last week i have been trying to stay busy crochet to relieve some of the stress of worrying about rather my family would be ok or not if they would lose some or all of their belongings. I live in Dallas Texas and at this time can’t even get down there to be with my family. Not only did this devastate our coast line and surrounding areas but it is not affecting the whole state. It will take a long time for Texas to recover and you are so right crochet is a life saver. Thank you to everyone for their thoughts and prayers for Texas and to all that have come from other states to help us out! God bless y’all

Mikey, Dan, & Staff:. Thank you for your pain/empathy. Thank you for your support and encouragement. The destruction of Harvey, the wake of possessions lost..it is the emotions and spirit ! I have lived in the hurricane that wiped out much of southern Fl (back in the early ’70’s), Hugo, northern Fl., Katrina, and now, though not physically there, Harvey. Residing now in eastern Oklahoma, I’ve witnessed the loss of entire towns by Tornadoes. Sad to state, material things can be replaced,,yet it is the personal items lost-the memory mementos . The questions of “How” and “Where” to start, to begin again. Mikey, Thank you for being able to put your emotions into words, many of us “feel” them yet cannot express them. Prayers and blessings to all within this hurricane path and the “new’ hurricane about to approach the eastern coast.

Mikey, as a resident of Arkansas, just a border away from from the states that Hurricane Harvey has ravaged for the last week, almost, there has been little else on my mind but the people of Texas and Louisiana. They aren’t strangers to hurricanes and floods, but this was th, e longest, heaviest sustained downpour of torrential rains that they – or anyone, I suppose – have ever experienced.
With each hurricane, more lessons are learned, and less lives are lost, which is a blessing in the midst of all the devastation, so we can and should take some measure of comfort in that. Only time will tell if enough was learned.
Yes, it was, and is, and will be heartbreaking to watch and listen to the reports and videos of the relentless onslaught of Harvey, the devastation, the loss, the destruction, and then the long slog of recovery, rebuilding, recreating a new normal. Anyone seeing even a tiny portion of all this knows instinctively that this is a singular event that will take more time and money to recover from than anything we’ve witnessed in our lifetimes.
This is happening at a time when our country, and our world is being drowned by our differences, and our intolerance of them, to the point of violence! Some would say we are our own catastrophe! But, in the midst of our own shortcomings, and the tragedy in Texas and Louisiana, there were individuals, hundreds, if not thousands of them, who saw their fellow human beings in dire need, in desperation, in helplessness, in pain, in fear, and in spite of their own need, fear, pain, loss, and their differences from all their fellow humans, they set all that aside, stepped out of their situations, and went to save and rescue thousands of people, most of whom they did not know! Think of that! Put that in your mind, keep those pictures in your memory, bury them in your heart!
They risked their own lives to save others, and kept on, day after day after day. Some had lost their own homes, their cars, their business, and, yes, family, and some were fired upon, but they kept on!
If we can only let them serve to remind us that this is what we should do every day, not just in the middle of the storm, but when the sun is shining and we are high and dry and safe in our lives. And in doing so, we can keep on, too!

Mikey, I live in Denham Springs, Louisiana which is 70 miles from New Orleans. My aunt lost her home in Hurricane Katrina. Thank God she had evacuated to Houston where part of our family lives. Last August, 90% of my town was underwater during the Great Flood of 2016. My sister’s in-laws and my brother’s family lost their homes in Baton Rouge. Earlier this week I prayed & worried about my family in Houston. All have been spared from flood waters. We still see many FEMA trailers around the neighborhoods here in south Louisiana. I know the distraction, the demolition process, the rebuilding, and the loss. My brother-in-law lost his parents and his family home to the flood. We are still sifting through his parents belongings. I have not been able to watch the news broadcasts or read articles about Houston. It’s just unfathomable that this is happening again. Thank you for your kind thoughts and prayers for everyone. It is heart wrenching, but it is heartwarming knowing that we have people worldwide cheering for us and sending aide.

How comforting. Thank you. This storm has changed many lives. The crocheters (hookers) that I know that have been deeply affected are anxious to get back to their craft but we know that there are priorities. There are many tears at the loss of their stash. I have enjoyed talking to some older women who will sit and knit or crochet no matter what… oh my, it is so therapeutic. I see blank eyes in some of them but their fingers are moving and they seem so at peace even with water surrounding them. Your words were a calm balm to me. Thanks again. I still love Texas and always will.

ty mikey for you compassion for our neighbors here in Texas. It is unbelievable the devastation along the gulf and more coming with flooding. Your compassion is so welcomed and appreciated. We love you and Dan here in Texas. You have brought a lot of smiles laughter and projects . God bless you an Dan
from all of us in Texas.

I spent the past week watching local weather news and crocheting a granny stripe afghan with color changes every two rows. The pattern was almost automatic; the color changes held my attention. I live in Houston, TX. This wonderful hobby kept me sane as the rain fell and fell. I was safe physically and crocheting kept my morale high. –Margaret Ford, Crochet cruise March 2016

Mike,
I live here in East Texas ind the hard hit hurricane zone. You are right it is very emotionally devastating to have gone through what we have gone through.

I have always used hooking as my stress release and so donated most of my stash and all of my duplicate knitting and crochet needles to our local shelter . The ladies there were so grateful. I know how much it helps to have something to keep you busy and many will have to stay in shelters for weeks. I wrote your fb page and blog info on a pad of sticky notes and attached it to the boxes. They can get your patterns from their phones. I know they so I love them as much as I do.

I appreciate your concern and I am one of your followers and was also affected by Hurricane Harvey. We were very fortunate to only receive minimal damage and replacement of food but my friends lost everything. Thank you for your post!

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